Cellphones and filling stations

[adrianh]

It is said that using a cell phone whilst filling a car could start a fire or explosion. I always thought that the idea was silly given that the RF produced by the phone is really strong. The reasoning is actually for a totally different reason. The problem is not the cell phone per se but rather the battery connections within the phone, and any other portable device for that matter. The thinking is that when the batteries are of poor quality or neglected that they may arc across their contacts to the portable device causing the fumes to ignite. Yes of course you will say that you cell phone is a nice sealed unit but that wasn't always the case, some cell phones had nasty battery terminal and of course little Johnny might use his phone with and inappropriate battery strapped on the back.

Food for thought. The interesting fact that caught my attention was that we tend to think that the problem has to be the RF signal because the device is a transmitter rather than thinking laterally and looking for other potential issues.

[pmbguy]

I once saw a reality TV program where a guy was filling drums with petrol that were standing on the back of his bakkie. He jumped onto the back to close all the lids and as he was about to jump off there was a huge explosion!! He fell off and started to run around frantically... engulfed in flames!...people came to his aid and extinguished the human torch. Luckily the petrol station itself did not explode, but his old ford pickup was burned to a crisp.
The investigation of the fire concluded that it was caused by a build-up of fumes on the back of his bakkie which ignited from a spark caused by his thick jacket, static electricity. This poor guy.... it shows that just moving around a fume filled space can cause it to ignite.

[adrianh]

I think that we have become very blasé with electricity. People are so used to having little low power devices lying around that they forget the true nature of the beast.

[Dave S]

I once saw a reality TV program where a guy was filling drums with petrol that were standing on the back of his bakkie. He jumped onto the back to close all the lids and as he was about to jump off there was a huge explosion!! He fell off and started to run around frantically... engulfed in flames!...people came to his aid and extinguished the human torch. Luckily the petrol station itself did not explode, but his old ford pickup was burned to a crisp.
The investigation of the fire concluded that it was caused by a build-up of fumes on the back of his bakkie which ignited from a spark caused by his thick jacket, static electricity. This poor guy.... it shows that just moving around a fume filled space can cause it to ignite.

I've also heard of a similar event where the fuel nozzle arched a spark across the filler neck.

[adrianh]

All taxi's should be fitted with Bic lighters to their filler caps.

[pmbguy]

I agree

[Dave S]

All taxi's should be fitted with Bic lighters to their filler caps.

+1,+1,+1... ad infinitum...

[adrianh]

We could market it as a standby item in case they need to quickly set a tyre on fire or burn down a municipal building.